Wayback Bill's Deception (1922)
(For "The Australian.")
When Wayback Bill came home from war and left Fremantle Base,He tracked the bush known as of yore the very hardest case.
He said "I'll seek a quiet run where I'm by no chance known,
And as I want a cushy job to ignorance I'll own;
With luck I'll strike a station if I keep out Eastward wider,
Where none will guess I'm Wayback Bill--famed buslhman and roughrider. But one day Bill had travelled far through heat and dust intense,
And saw a bearded squatter boss who leaned upon a fence.
Said Bill: "Boss, have you got a job for a learner--something light?
I want to be a jackeroo, you'll find my heart is right;
I'm not fit now for heavy work, through war I lost my vigor;
Now you're a patriotic boss, and I'm a wounded Digger. "I did my bit and got some knocks, about a score or so,
For everywhere this orphan went the shells were sure to go."
"Well," said the boss, "I won't put you to deal with colts or sheep,
But I've got something soft for you--two pounds a week and keep.
It's not a job requiring skill, it's light and nothing showy--
You can go and help my cook as "wood and water Joey." Now Bill held to that position till one day at the yard
He saw a wild-eyed "outlaw" throw their champion riders hard;
Bill felt his old pride rising, especially when the boss,
Who thought himself a champion, got thrown a rail across.
Bill called out "Stretcher bearers !" but there were no bones broken,
So old Bill forgot his billet and became a bit outspoken. Said Bill "That colt is playful, he can buck a little bit,
But some of you bush whackers a milkcow couldn't sit."
The boss was sore and angry, and said
"You simpleton, I'll wager you can't ride him--a tenner to your one."
Bill said "The bet is taken, and an outlaw such as this is.
I'll make into a lady's back that wouldn't throw your missus." The boss he tried to coax old Bill that outlaw not to ride,
Told him to get a pistol if he wished to suicide;
But old Bill wouldn't listen--there was ten pounds to be earned,
So he leaped into the saddle like a rider skilled and learned.
All thought Bill would come a cropper, but they saw him smiling gaily,
Sticking like a porous plaster to that outlaw bucking madly. Yes, he stuck and won his wager, though the boss was hurt to pay,
And said "I'm sure you've ridden many colts before today;
At rough-riding you're a champion—take your tenner and the 'sack,'
They kill splendid men in battle, but somehow the 'rooks' come back;
I've no time for a digger that such deception tries on,"
And he watched Bill till he faded like a blur on the horizon. --J.H.W. Perth, 22/9/22. Notes From the Perth Newspaper The Australian 29 Sep 1922 p. 3.